I seriously thought that Japanese TV shows were about as cruel & casually abusive towards ordinary people as it was possible to get without live vivisection.

I was wrong.

dailymail.co.uk

A TV show has sparked outrage in Iraq after featuring fake ISIS fighters who ‘kidnap’ celebrities, strap fake suicide vests to them and tell them they will be executed.

In the prank show Tanneb Rislan, terrified celebrities are taken to visit Iraqi families who they believe have been displaced after fleeing from extremists.

But once there, the duped participants are ambushed by fake jihadists and told they will be killed - until ‘troops’ come to the rescue and bring their ordeal to an end.

In one show, comic actress Nessma passed out with fear after being fitted with a fake suicide vest and was only brought round when the presenter poured water on her face.

In another episode, Iraq international footballer Alaa Mhawi, who has played 44 times for his country, was blind-folded and filmed begging for his life.

What looks like a close shave is, in fact, a candid camera-style television show airing during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that takes tricking celebrities for laughs to a new level. And it’s causing a scandal in Iraq, along with accusations of bad taste.